This morning we woke up in a small campground in West Yellowstone
called “The Hide Away”. I was sick so I stayed in bed and rested till we
arrived at a bakery which I was told had the best dessert in Montana. I wasn’t
told however who decided that fact. Probably a family member of the owner. Regardless,
it was very good, but I was sick so my taste buds were probably messed up.
One week earlier, before we left on our trip, my Aunt Joann
was telling Emma and Gordon about the Boiling River in Yellowstone and how it
bubbles with hot springs that you can swim in. Well, ever since then, Emma and
Gordon have had their hearts set on going there. Our mission today: to explore strange old hot springs, to seek
out park rangers, and to boldly go where no man would advise. So we head off in
our air stream spaceship. “Set the auto pilot for Yellowstone informational
space port” says Captain Carl. “Will do Captain,” says First Officer Ian. “Should
I make the jump to light speed?” shouts Copilot Gordon from the back. “Go for it!”
3….2....1 Whooooooosh
And then it was as if we had been time warped and we were mounted
on horseback, riding through the valley plain towards the nearest information
center. Our hats were low on our heads and our boots felt heavy. We had been
riding all day; I knew that the horse would die if it didn’t get water soon. I felt
its sluggish weight under me collapse and down with my horse I went. if I hadn’t
had the reflex reaction to pull my leg out, the beast would have crushed my
leg. As I was standing beside my fallen ride, I saw it- the information center.
I saw it and though it was only a 100 yards away, I just stood there frozen;
then everything got cold and dark. I collapsed to the sand…….wait a minute…so
sorry….for a second there I was remembering our last motorhome trip!
And there we were in our current old motorhome arriving at
the Yellowstone National Park information center. We asked the ranger about any
hot springs that we could swim in and he directed us to a river that apparently
had some sort of hot spring flowing into it. (The Boiling River was not an
option due to very high water.) We all sat by the edge of the water watching
the meandering river before Dad tested the water. It was cold but Dad said that
the hotspring had to be on the other side, so in he went with Emma and Gordon following. They actually found the hot spring and, in
fact ,Dad, now the only one still in the water, shouted across to us that it
must be at least 85 degrees…I think maybe the cold had gotten to him!
Later that night we arrived at the Billings, Montana airport
to pick up my sister Anna. In typical Schartner style we arrived there a little late and found out
that her flight hadn’t left yet and wouldn’t be arriving till 11:30. Three
hours later we picked up Anna to spend a short night at my Uncle Gordon’s house
….thanks Uncle Gordon and Aunt Joann!
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